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Kanpachi

Today for lunch my mom took me and my sister to another one of our traditional go-to spots for food: sushi/sashimi. For lunch, they have a set menu of bowls and sushi plates that range from $10-$15. I ordered a sushi plate with tuna, seared tuna, salmon, yellow tail, shrimp, fish eggs and unagi (sea urchin).

For those unfamiliar with sushi, its all about the freshness of the fish and the way it is cut. The rice is made with a combination of sesame oil and sugar, yielding a slightly sweet taste. Each fish has a specific texture and flavor, and the less “fishy” the taste, the better the quality of sushi. My mom tells me that the ginger is eaten to kill any germs the raw fish may have, but I think its more to clean the palate before the next sushi. Whatever, I’m just too lazy to google it.

Today the fish wasn’t as fresh as we’re used to getting from them, but it was still great sushi, some of the best for the price, and they give you “just right” portions. I tried some of my sister’s eel, something I used to love when I was around 10 but ate so much of I got sick of it. So after about a 10 year eel hiatus, I was able to taste melt-in-your-mouth tender eel. Excellently grilled!

They have some of the best miso soup I’ve ever had, not some skimpy few pieces of seaweed floating at the top of thin cloudy broth, nope. Their miso soup is filled with tofu pieces, tofu skin chunks, carrots and turnip slices. The green tea (ocha) is freshly brewed (that’s an entirely different world of Japanese cuisine!) and service is friendly and casual yet prompt and to the point. One of my “must eat” places in SoCal when I return home from school, a little hole-in-the-wall that’s tucked into a little Asian plaza and seats only about 20 people, another great meal with my fam J